Items tagged with films
Are you fed up with Netflix? Redbox just not working out? We highly doubt you'll be answering "yes" to those, but if so, help is on the way from a pretty wild source. Google's YouTube has just launched their first major movie rentals, making it an instant competitor in a small but powerful network of companies who are driving pay-TV executives up the wall. Facebook has already started to trial this kind of thing, and it makes sense for YouTube to try their hand as well. According to reports, Google's working to line up more deals with movie companies in order to launch a full-fledged rental program with titles from Sony, Warner Bros., and more. YouTube already rents indie films for $2.99, but...
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Haven't heard of Lovefilm? If you live in North America (or anywhere outside of Europe, really), we wouldn't be surprised. But have you heard of Netflix? Essentially, Lovefilm is Netflix for Europe, and soon, Lovefilm will be a part of Amazon. It's likely that Netflix was simply too pricey for Amazon to pick up, but Lovefilm is another story. Amazon already has a Video on Demand service of their own, but there's nothing quite like swallowing the competition in order to grow your own business. In fact, this acquisition also puts Amazon in the DVD-by-mail business, which it hasn't been a part of until now. The new agreement states that Amazon will acquire "the remaining shares" of Lovefim, which...
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There's no denying the significance of Netflix these days. The once tiny startup is now a monolith in the industry, and it has practically put the likes of Blockbuster on the ropes. What's interesting, however, is that the DVD-by-mail nature of its business isn't getting most of the attention these days. What is? The "Watch Instantly" portion, which allows users with select devices (PCs, Xbox 360, Roku, etc.) stream films on-demand so long as they're jacked into a broadband Internet connection. For awhile now, Microsoft's game console has been the only one of the major three to stream Netflix. The company even credits that partnership with drawing over 2 million new subscribers, so it makes sense...
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There was a time not too long ago where just about every TV maker was jumping to add Netflix streaming to their sets. Now that said wave has rolled, it looks like the next bandwagon to jump on is the one with the Vudu banner streaming from the rear. Shortly after LG announced that a select few of its Netcast HDTVs would be able to stream on-demand films from Vudu, Mitsubishi has stepped forward with similar news. Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America has today announced that it has begun shipments of its Vudu-ready HDTVs. The 1080p flat-panel sets are all in the Unisen Diamond lineup, with the Ethernet-equipped LT-46249 ($2600) and LT-52249 ($3100) being called out in particular. Both sets also...
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We already knew as much, but today Toshiba has made it extra official: it's joining the Blu-ray camp. For those unaware (yes, all six of you), Toshiba was far and away HD DVD's largest supporter during the format's boom years. After a long, hard-fought battle with Blu-ray that spanned nearly 24 months, HD DVD finally folded after too many studios devoted their attention (and future releases) to the Blu-ray Disc format. Many still wonder why HD DVD fell and Blu-ray won, and even today the Blu-ray adoption level is exceedingly low for a next-generation format. HD DVD was always the cheaper option, and while its disc held less information (30GB compared to Blu-ray Disc's 50GB), it was first with...
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Sonic Solutions, best known for its CinemaNow movie venture, has just teamed up with Widevine in order to bring Hollywood hits to a place they've never been before: USB flash drives. Mind you, we've seen major motion pictures show up on flash cards of all sizes, but this is the first time a respected outfit has announced plans to launch films on flash drive.The self-contained CinemaNow USB Movie Drives will include an integrated media player as well as the necessary video codecs to enable instant high-quality PC playback of movie content offline. Once a user connects to the Internet, they can then add the title to their Roxio CinemaNow Digital Locker to access it on other ecosystem devices such...
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Think DVDs are old fashioned? Already looking forward to the end of the line for Blu-ray? If so, you may be interested in what Disney and Panasonic hope is the next big thing: movies on flash cards. Yep, those same diminutive memory chips that you buy for your digital camera will soon be available with major motion films loaded on, giving consumers with flash card-supporting media players the ability to watch flicks whilst on the go.Walt Disney Company has partnered with Panasonic in order to kick-start the initiative, which will "package pre-recorded microSD cards together with DVDs holding the same movie content," giving users and easy watch to watch their favorite DVDs on portable players....
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YouTube, the world's largest video site, has partnered with MGM to begin showing full-length films from the studio's archive. Recently the video giant has been trying to play catch up to video site Hulu. The partnership hopes to boost revenue to both Youtube and MGM along with giving more direct competition to Hulu, the NBC owned site that features free full-length shows from Fox, NBC, and CBS, along with various full-length movies. Jim Packer, co-president of MGM Worldwide Television, is optimistic, saying, "They have a lot of people walking through their front door everyday. And if they are smart in how they grow this, YouTube should have a successful business also." The video presentation...
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You want IOPs? Got that... You want Petaflops? Check. Blades? Yeah we got a few of those hanging around too... next to the fiber-optic shelves. News.com has the 411 on the kind of power it takes to run a state of the art production house like Lucasfilms. A couple of those racks ought to do the trick keeping ol' HH with 99.999% up-time. Wonder if the boys over there ever donate their left-overs? "Inside the data center in San Francisco's Letterman Digital Arts Center, Lucasfilms director of IT operations Kevin Clark stands in front of a rack of the company's state-of-the-art Verari servers, which use AMD Opteron dual-core/dual-processor technology with...
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